Keithhjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
Nice. Hope it grows well for ya!
Dary's tank!
- Thread starter Dary421
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Nice. Hope it grows well for ya!
Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thank you! . You are all doing a fine job. I still have issues now and again.
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Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
Dary, You're stuff looks great. I still have some issues with certain corals I am trying to understand better. Flow rate and PAR work together in some amazing fashion with some, maybe most corals. I am a engineer, not a biologist, so some of this is hard to get thru my thick head.
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Dary421
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thanks Greg but at least you have an idea of what's going on,..me? I'm just a trial and error guy,..sometimes I just get a little lucky and something actually grows!!!
Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
This is a field where there is a lot that is still not understood. It is however fascinating in how much has been discovered even in the last few decades. The two gallon nano tank at our office is a simple example of the impossible becoming not only possible, but fairly simple.
CorallineAlgae
Aquarium Advice Addict
Dary421 said:
That's the best kind of aquarist in my humble opinion. Whatever success I've had in reef keeping came down to that exact philosophy. I had setup a plenum style reverse daylight refugium back around 1998 that was running up until this past summer all due to trial and error experimenting.
Not that I discount proven methods. But they don't get proven unless people experiment with them while they're still either unknown or unproven. Breaking the established rules seems commonplace in this hobby. It's such a big part of the allure.
Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
In general, i agree, but experimenting without documenting and testing for the actual performance increase or decrease isn't generally productive. There are many routes to the same goals, reef quality water and growing corals. But modern test kits like Hanna produces now lets us not guess how good that skimmer works, but to actually measure it. My point being, buy the Hanna Phosphate tester for $50 before buying a $1000 skimmer that you think might work better than your present one. See if you actually have a problem first. I bet Dary's system has very low Phosphate from just looking at his coral. I have been a pilot for many years and we depend on instrumentation to not plow into a mountain top in weather. I think of myself as piloting my reef system, but I want good data when doing so.
Interesting debate anyway. It is sad Dary that there is no advice to be found on this forum...ha! I think there is something in the salt we use that makes us all this way.
Interesting debate anyway. It is sad Dary that there is no advice to be found on this forum...ha! I think there is something in the salt we use that makes us all this way.
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Dary421
Aquarium Advice Addict
I'm not saying that I wanted a new skimmer because my present one isn't doing ok,..it's because I just wanted to experiment and try something different.,....like everyone changing from their mh and t5/8 bulbs to the led's ,..im sure the other ones did their job well its just nice to change things up now and then and experiment ,...kinda like your trusty old car gets you to town and back without any trouble but sometimes it's just nice to have a new car to drive too.
I still haven't pressed any buttons yet just dreaming alittle.... ( that skimmer I inquired about isn't a $1000..., more like $399..... This would prob be a boring hobby if everyone used the exact same equipment,..nice to have people trying different things.
Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
I understand, as I said, there are many routes to the same goal. One of my skimmers is the Red Sea model I think you had. There are many things I dislike about this skimmer, but it does skim and the wash down feature keeps me from pitching it. So features and efficiency does matter to me.
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Dary421
Aquarium Advice Addict
Greg,.., I guess some people like to break out their test tubes and ck their water quality every other day and thats great if that's their thing but I'm just not one of 'em,.. I totally understand what you're saying as far as testing out conditions first,..logical ( but I think it's prob overdone by most ) I'd prob drive mr spock nuts,..I'm just not that logical or a scientist ,I'm just a zoo keeper.
I'll prob never have the tank nor the understanding you do but I'm going ok in my primitive caveman ways lol..... Cave man just wants to try out a new club
Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
I think you are doing a fine job and am not trying to be critical. I have gone for long periods where I didn't monitor much but salinity and the reef survived okay. You have me thinking about a skimmer upgrade now.
Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
Just found (and bought, even though I might just resell it) a Hydor Performer 2005 Protein Skimmer for $250 on Craig's List. Reviews look pretty good on this one. Anyone ever use one of these?
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Dary421
Aquarium Advice Addict
Wow.... I bet itll just hum along with your setup as is....id keep it and ditch the red sea.... Good price too
Sniperhank
Giant Clam Addict
I love reading you two go back and forth with information. My question is, if your skimmer is skimming why replace it? With my reef octopus, I can't keep it skimming reliably and am unsure if this is from it being rated for a 100 gal setup and being on a 55 or that I feed so minimally due to my water causing issues by itself.
Keithhjs
Aquarium Advice Addict
I added the Red Sea Skimmer six months ago or so and I repeatedly look at different brands with the anticipation of replacing it ASAP. Skims decent but is almost über touchy, requiring many adjustments. To Red Sea's credit two weeks after I installed it and was still having issues they sent me a brand new one no questions asked.
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Dary421
Aquarium Advice Addict
I had one of those and could never get it dialed in right...after a period of time i just gave up on it and replaced it.... I guess ya gotta know when to hold em and when to fold'em
Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
Mine liked to drip. I use external skimmers, so it had to sit in a drip tray.
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Dary421
Aquarium Advice Addict
I originally ran mine as an external but it seemed to want to flood out all the time.. Which was always scary especially when your were away from home.... I put it into my present sump when i switched tanks and it was better.., BUT i could never trust it . .. Too touchy for me.
Gregcoyote
Aquarium Advice Addict
They are touchy. And mine liked to flood as well. Had the collection cup plumbed to a water jug for the runoff, but it would sometime run amok and overfill the jug. Made a nice mess. Any skimmer that uses a restriction valve on the outflow to adjust the foam height seems to have this problem. The ones that have a overflow riser that has adjustable height seems to work much better. This new one has a riser.
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Dary421
Aquarium Advice Addict
Lots of variables with your possible skimming issues,...water height ,air,..bio load, etc,...but a skimmer rated for a 100 gal setup should be great for a 55 gal tank,.im sure you'll get it dialed in to your system, just small adjustments at a time and a little patience ...if you go up a handful of post I answer your question about why I was thinking about another skimmer,...but in a nutshell,..I just wanted to experiment a little and try something different ,.nothing ventured, nothing gained! .... .I haven't pressed any buttons yet ,just thinking out loud ,
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